Middle School Scholarship Skills Workshop | Fall

This 8-week Middle School Scholarship Skills Workshop is designed to equip Middle School students with essential academic tools and a joyful approach to enhance their learning journey in their other courses. Aligned with the classical Christian tradition and inspired by Dorothy Sayers’ The Lost Tools of Learning, the workshop focuses on helping middle school students with critical thinking, organization, and active engagement with texts and discussions. Students will discover their learning strengths, improve time management, develop study skills, learn to engage deeply with literature through reading strategies, refine their writing process, and build confidence in class discussions. The goal is to help students flourish in their pursuit of academic success by means of encouragement and offering hands-on, practical skills to enrich their broader studies—without the burden of extra homework.

Week 1 Know Yourself, Get Organized Self-evaluation quiz (strengths/weaknesses), time management, plan tasks from other classes.

Week 2 Study and Memorization Techniques Explore study methods (including Pomodoro), practice memorization with spaced repetition.

Week 3 Reading with Purpose – Part 1 Active reading (Adler), annotate a page from another class, discuss why/how we read.

Week 4 Reading with Purpose – Part 2 Different genres, note-taking (including Cornell).

Week 5 Writing Process – Part 1 Outlining and drafting, focus on thesis-building and research.

Week 6 Writing Process – Part 2 Editing and polishing, exploring types of essays.

Week 7 Creative Writing Skills Fictional writing techniques (hyperbole, metaphor, simile), rephrase a class concept creatively.

Week 8 Active Participation and Synthesis Practice discussion skills, synthesize reading, writing, and note-taking skills.

• Computer: You will need a stable, reliable computer, running with a processor with a speed of 1 GHz or better on one of the following operating systems: Mac OS X with Mac OS 10.7 or later; Windows 8, 7, Vista (with SP1 or later), or XP (with SP3 or later). We do not recommend using an iPad or other tablet for joining classes. An inexpensive laptop or netbook would be much better solutions, as they enable you to plug an Ethernet cable directly into your computer. Please note that Chromebooks are allowed but not preferred, as they do not support certain features of the Zoom video conference software such as breakout sessions and annotation, which may be used by our teachers for class activities.
• High-Speed Internet Connection: You will also need access to high-speed Internet, preferably accessible via Ethernet cable right into your computer. Using Wi-Fi may work, but will not guarantee you the optimal use of your bandwidth. The faster your Internet, the better. We recommend using a connection with a download/upload speed of 5/1 Mbps or better. You can test your Internet connection here.
• Webcam: You may use an external webcam or one that is built in to the computer. Webcam Recommendations: Good (PC only) | Best (Mac and PC)
• Headset: We recommend using a headset rather than a built-in microphone and speakers. Using a headset reduces the level of background noise heard by the entire class. Headset Recommendations: USB | 3.5mm
• Zoom: We use a web conferencing software called Zoom for our classes, which enables students and teachers to gather from around the globe face to face in real time. Zoom is free to download and easy to use. To download Zoom:
  1. Visit zoom.us/download.
  2. Click to download the first option listed, Zoom Client for Meetings.
  3. Open and run the installer on your computer.
  4. In August, students will be provided with instructions and a link for joining their particular class.
• Scanner: In this class, students frequently submit homework assignments by scanning pages from their workbooks. Students and/or their parents should have easy access to a scanner and the ability to use it.